CANADIAN STEAM RAILWAYS 617 with 171 miles, was incorporated, and in the following year the amalgamation with the Great Western (904 miles) took place, whi'.e the Midland system (473 miles) was also incorporated into the Grand Trunk. In 1888 the Northern railway, which had been opened from Toronto to Barrie in 1853, and the Hamilton and North­ western railway, were taken over by the Grand Trunk. In 1891 the completion of the St. Clair tunnel gave direct communication with the railways of the United States. In the seventies the gauge had been changed from the original 5' 6" to the standard gauge of 4' 8§". Construction of the Intercolonial.—The Intercolonial railway between the Maritime Provinces and Canada had been proposed as early as the thirties. In 1844 the Imperial Government made a survey for a military road, and in 1851 agreed to recommend to Parliament either a guarantee of interest or an advance of the sum required to build a railroad. Differences of opinion as to the route resulted in the project falling through, but in 1853 Nova Scotia undertook to construct by 1862 a trunk line from Halifax to the New Brunswick frontier, with branch lines to Pictou and Victoria Beach. In both Nova Scotia and New Bruns­ wick, however, the scheme of an Intercolonial railway broke down for lack of funds, and in 1867 there were only 341 miles of railway in the Maritimes—196 miles in New Brunswick, including lines from St. John to Shediac and from St. Andrews to Richmond; 145 miles in Nova Scotia, including lines from Halifax to Truro and Windsor, and from Truro to Pictou. These, under the B.N.A. Act, passed to the Dominion Government. The latter on its part undertook the completion of the railway, and in 1876 the line was opened. In 1879 the Riviere du Loup branch of the Grand Trunk was acquired, and in 1898 the Drummond Counties Railway from Chaudiere Junction to Ste. Rosalie Junction was leased, and running rights obtained from the latter point over the Grand Trunk tracks into Montreal, the Intercolonial thus becoming a competitor for the business of the commercial metropolis of Canada. The first Transcontinental Railway—the C.P.R.—As early as 1849 a pamphlet published by Major Carmichael-Smyth advocated the construction of a Canadian Pacific railway nearly along the present route. In 1851 a Parliamentary Committee reported against the undertaking of the enterprise at that time. In 1871 the terms under which British Columbia entered Confederation pledged the Dominion to commence the Pacific railway within two years, and complete it within ten years. The work of construction of the railway as a public work actually commenced in 1874, but was not very rapidly pushed forward. In 1880 the Gov­ ernment entered into a contract with the Canadian Pacific Railway syndicate, granting to the syndicate all portions of the line completed or under construction, a cash subsidy of $25,000,000 and a land grant of 25,000,000 acres, free admission of materials for construction, and protection for 20 years against competing lines. The company on its side agreed to complete the railway to a fixed standard by May 1. 1891, and thereafter to maintain it efficiently. As a matter of fact the last spike on the main line was driven on Nov. 7, 1885. Like the Grand Trunk, the Canadian Pacific railway now began to acquire small branch lines as feeders; among them being the North Shore, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Ontario in 1881, the Winnipeg to Manitou line in 1882, the Ontario and Quebec, the Credit Valley and the Toronto, Grey and Bruce in 1883, the St. Lawrence and Ottawa and Manitoba Southwestern, in 1884, the North Shore, Nova Scotia, in 1885, the Atlantic and Northwest, in 1886, the West Ontario Pacific, in 1887, the Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, in 1888, the New Irunswick railway, the Columbia and Kootenay in 1890, the Montreal and Ottawa and Montreal and Lake Maskinonge in 1892.